Say this about the Zombies: They were ahead of the curve. We live in a world where you can’t turn on the TV or go to a multiplex without running into a zombie. Back in 1961, keyboardist-songwriter Rod Argent and singer Colin Blunstone and their mates proved a pretty prescient …

It was 1984 and I was talking with the Kinks singer and main songwriter Ray Davies about the oft-contentious relationship he had with his younger brother, lead guitarist Dave. “I love him,” Ray said, softly. “But sometimes … he’s family …and I don’t really like family.” Nine …

The Jesus and Mary Chain is back among us in … again. They played the Paradise in 2012 and are back one more time, playing (among other things) the entirety of “Psychocandy,” the brilliant album that brought them early notoriety, at the House of Blues Tuesday Sept. 29. I remember …

It’s back in Boston for a another run. From Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the folks who gave you the world’s first animated talking poo in “South Park,” it’s “The Book of Mormon.” Two and a half hours of merriment and mirth and scatological humor and a celebratory sendup of …

Boston-area film-maker Richard Tilkin decided he wanted to make a documentary about a subject everyone virtually avoids at all cost: The inevitability of leaving this mortal coil. How do we regard our life knowing that – but not dwelling upon it? How does what we think happens after death affect …

We saw “Mamma Mia!” twice, in 2001 and 2004. It show, it has legs, even though it received a few slings and arrows in the press. Well, it’s back once again. It will not die. “Mamma Mia!” is the kind of play that is a punching bag for certain types, both …

I’ve known Jake Burns, lead singer of the one-time Northern Irish punk band Stiff Little Fingers, going back to 1980 and their first Boston gig at the Paradise. I’ve seen them a lot over the years and they return to the Sinclair Sunday July 12, (they sold it out last September), …

The Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Jam — they get punk rock respect more than three decades down the pike, but their contemporaries the Damned are oft seen as a footnote, a comic one at that. The band remains fronted by singer Dave Vanian, forever dressed as a dapper vampire, …

Misdirection, unreliable narrators and skewed perceptions are all the rage these days from the controversial Netflix sci-fi/thriller series, “The O.A.” to the A.R.T.’s “Fingersmith,” an engaging and byzantine play by Alexa Junge and directed by Bill Rauch (he did the terrific “All the Way” with Bryan Cranston) that’s up through …

Joy Division’s existence was brief – just 2 ½ years – but its impact was immense in the world of post-punk rock. Their lyrics were often disturbing, introspective and self-critical; their music had a lush, crystalline sheen with deep and resonant pop hooks. U2’s Bono put it this way: “It …

BIO

Jim Sullivan wrote about pop music and other arts for the Boston Globe for 25+ years, with more than 10,000 stories to his credit before leaving in 2005. Since, he has freelanced for the Boston Phoenix, Boston Herald, Where magazine, Boston Common, Yankee magazine online, Time Out Boston, US News & World Report, the Cape Cod Times . He did arts commentary and reporting for WBUR and continues doing guest radio spots on WBZ and WERS. He created jimsullivanink.com in 2006, its purpose being to serve the Boston area with an opinionated guide to arts and events.

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